


Carson vs. Vertigo (How Carson and Danny meet)

by writehard_whumpharder



Category: Original Work
Genre: Carson Hall - Freeform, Carson college days, Carson series, Daniel Hopkins - Freeform, Fainting, Original Character(s), Vertigo - Freeform, Whump, disoriented, dizzy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24416455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writehard_whumpharder/pseuds/writehard_whumpharder
Summary: How Carson and Daniel met. This takes place on the first day of a new semester in college roughly five years ago. A guy sits next to Carson in class which annoys him to no end until he gets hit with terrible vertigo and it's this same stranger that helps him out.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Carson vs. Vertigo (How Carson and Danny meet)

Wind blew through the open courtyard between buildings as Carson walked to his next class. It was in a large lecture hall so he wouldn't be forced to talk to anyone unless he had a question. God he used to get so nervous on the first day of a new semester but he'd stopped caring a long time ago.

Wearing a New York University sweatshirt, jeans, and a beanie, he did his best to blend in, and taking a look at all the other students walking around the campus, he was doing a pretty good job. With the sun out and leaves falling down as the weather transitioned into fall, it was almost a perfect day. Perfect all except for the fact that his insomnia had kicked his ass once again last night and now he was running on less than no sleep. He was on his third cup of coffee and it was only 11am. Carson figured it didn't really matter though, he could just find a seat in the back of the lecture hall, get his syllabus, and sleep the rest of the time if need be.

Once he got in the lecture hall he immediately found the seat he'd sat in all last semester when he was in the same lecture room and sat down before anyone else could take it. He was a creature of habit so there was something comforting sitting in the same spot. Although this was an entirely different class with a teacher he'd never had before.

A short, middle aged man milled about the front stage getting his things ready as more students filed in. Mere seconds before the doors would close so the lecture could start, one more person slipped in and to Carson's dismay, sat down right next to him. That wasn't supposed to happen. This was his row God damn it and it has been for two years now.

Carson made no effort to conceal his scowl before turning to get a look at the guy. He was tall, that was the first thing he noticed. The second was his green eyes as they met each other's gaze. The guy tried to smile politely but it quickly fell away as he took in Carson's expression.

"Um, is this seat taken?" He whispered, sounding unsure.

Carson simply sighed and put his head down over his arms, ignoring his question. The professor's voice boomed through the lecture hall, he introduced himself and announced that 18th century literature would not be an easy A kind of class. Great, another strict professor that took his job way too seriously. Carson didn't bother lifting up his head for another thirty minutes though he was still listening closely to what was being said. But around a third of the way into the class he got this strange feeling like all the blood was pooling in his head so he sat back up, blinking against the sunlight coming in from the windows. He hoped that would fix the problem but now that he was upright, it felt like all that blood was draining from his head at once.

Apparently it was because the guy next to him elbowed him suddenly, "Dude you okay? You just went white."

Carson nodded, immediately regretting it as the room spun around him for a moment, "Yeah, fine," he whispered. He must not have been very convincing because he could still feel the stranger's eyes on him.

Carson was surprised to see that his face was actually scrunched up in concern. He leaned forward a little to get a better look at his chalky complexion to which Carson leaned away, shrinking into his oversized sweatshirt.

To be honest he was starting to panic a little. He'd felt this feeling before and it always ended with him on the floor. Along with the dizziness a strange tingling started to spread from his chest down through his arms and legs. Deep breaths, Carson, he told himself. Sometimes that helped clear away some of the anxiety that came with the problem. And it worked, for a couple minutes at least. He leaned over his desk, closing his eyes in an effort to focus. This only made the room spin faster and he hurried to swallow down the nausea suddenly rushing up his throat. Carson wasn't sure if this was a random attack of vertigo or if it was related to his lack of sleep but either way, his body made it abundantly clear that it would not be ignored this time.

Ok, time to leave while leaving was still an option. Carson scooted his chair back a few inches then carefully rose, using the side of the desk for support. He had only thought in his head now -- getting the fuck out of this room and to somewhere more private, the only place on campus like that was the bathroom.

Since the guy next to him was sitting at the outer edge of the row he would have to walk behind him to get to the aisle and through the closed double doors that thankfully weren't very far away. But Carson only made it a couple steps before his vision and hearing started to warp with the vertigo. Either he was getting tunnel vision or things were starting to get darken at the edges. He stumbled into the table behind him, making enough noise to draw people's attention. The stranger sitting next to him was watching him carefully, tense and ready to move in case he fell. And just as they made eye contact, everything went dark. Carson's eyes rolled back in his head and he made a quiet exhaling noise as his limbs went slack. He tipped forward, his hand still gripping the table even as he's falling and his knees hit the ground first helping to slow down his descent. Enough for the guy to slide out of his chair and throw an arm out before Carson could bang his head on the ground. Carson landed in a tangled heap, just barely being propped up by an outstretched arm.

The stranger was at a loss for what to do next and was painfully aware of every person in the room staring at them.

"What's going on back there?" The professor demanded, stopping his lecture entirely. "Do we need to call campus security, an ambulance?"

"No!" He says a little too quickly, "um, no this happens all the time. Everything is fine, keep teaching." He said.

"This happens all the time? What are you thinking Daniel?! You don't even know this guys name, what if this is an actual emergency." He scolds himself. "If it is the least I can do is take it to the hallway where there will hopefully be less people watching.”  
Apparently that was all the professor needed to hear because he went back to the lecture completely unfazed, he really was as cold as he seemed.

He jostled Carson's shoulder and that seemed to do the trick because seconds later bright blue eyes started to crack open slowly, looking confused and glazed over.

Conscious again, the first thing Carson noticed was how awful he felt and he suddenly wished to go back to the darkness. He leaned into the pillow under his head, curling over on his side as he tried to ride out the vertigo. It wasn't until the pillow moved that he realized his head was rested on the stranger's arm. His eyes snapped open and despite everything he tried to get up. Seeing this Daniel figured he was well enough to be dragged out and suddenly the arm Carson was trying to get away from was snaking around his back so that his arm was slung over one of the taller's man's shoulders. He lifted him up with ease and Carson took clumsy steps to keep up with him.

The short trip out of the room was enough movement to make Carson want to either throw up or black out again so the second they were through the double doors Carson wiggled out of the guys grasp and staggered towards the men's bathroom. His vision was growing alarmingly dark but with one hand on the wall he managed to get where he was going. Vertigo was more of a superficial problem than anything, though he felt like he was dying, he knew it was all just an adverse reaction to the sheer amount of discomfort his body had to endure. Up was down, left was right, hot was cold.

Carson had hoped the stranger would stop there but he heard the bathroom door open a second after it had shut behind him and Daniel came in, looking more and more worried. Carson did his best to ignore him as he slid down the wall next to the sinks.

"Woah, are you okay? What's wrong?" Daniel asked, as Carson's legs seemed to give out.

"I..." Carson mumbled, "I'm dissolving." He said. Because that's exactly what it felt like. It was as if every cell in his body was tingling and breaking free of its structure, like his skin was turning to static in the most horrible way.

"You.. what? I think we should call someone," Daniel said, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

"No no, be fine in like.. 20 mins," Carson said as he let his eyes slip closed. All he could do now was wait for everything to slow down. He took one last look at his new deskmate who was very reluctant to trust the barely coherent words of a man curled up on the dirty floor of a college bathroom. He sat next to Carson impatiently, checking his phone as 5 minutes passed, then 10, then 15.

"Why do you keep doing that?" He asked, seeing Carson run his hand over his ear again which he'd been doing every few minutes.

"Just.. making sure." He mumbled.

"Making sure of what?" Daniel asked, confused. Was there something wrong with his hearing too?

"That my brain isn't actually leaking through my ears," Carson said dryly. To his surprise the stranger laughed at that.

"Wow you're just a hot mess aren't you?" Daniel said.

"Pretty much," Carson replied, not really noticing how Daniel emphasized both the words hot and mess.

He still felt pretty disoriented but he felt like he could at least sit up now so he pushed himself up off the floor to sit against the wall, resting his head between his knees.

"Lecture is going to end soon and both our bags are still in the room," Daniel said, "I'll go grab them, don't die while I'm gone." He joked.

"Meh," Carson replied, making no promises. What felt like no time at all later Daniel came back with two backpacks and knelt down again.

Carson blinked and shook his head slightly, trying to clear the lingering haze in his head. "You don't have to stay here you know."

"I don't have anywhere else I need to be," he shrugged. "I'm Daniel by the way."

"You look like a Danny," Carson said, immediately giving him the nickname whether he liked it or not. He saw his mouth open to correct him but he just sighed to himself and let it slide.

"I'm Carson."


End file.
